Wobbly Williams walks off court
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A clearly distressed Serena Williams was forced to retire from her Wimbledon doubles match after appearing dazed and dizzy.

Fox Sports

02 Jul 2014

Sport/Tennis

Serena Williams wipes her face as she talks to a doctor on court at Wimbledon.Source: AFP

UPDATE: Nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova has criticised Serena Williams’ mysterious withdrawal from the female doubles tournament yesterday, and questioned the world number one’s claim that she was suffering from a virus.

“I think virus, whatever they’re saying it was, I don’t think it was that. I think it’s clear that’s not the case,” Navratilova told ESPN. “I don’t know what it is, but I hope Serena will be OK. And most of all, I don’t know how she ended up walking onto the court.”

Navratilova thinks Williams, who only made it through three games, should have withdrawn from the match before it started.

Czech legend Martina Navratilova.Source: Supplied

“It’s the most inexplicable thing of all, that she was clearly in no state to play a match and that with all the people around her, that they didn’t stop her from getting on the court,” she said.

“Everybody was put in such a difficult position, including the WTA. It’s not right. It defies logic on so many fronts. The coach said he hadn’t seen her in two days. He didn’t know anything. How can you be a coach and not know anything? That’s wrong.

“And Venus was just kind of there. You don’t know what’s going on, but virus was not it, that much is clear.”

Martina Navratilova pictured in the crowd at a previous Wimbledon tournament.Source: Getty Images

Here’s the original story:

It was clear that something was wrong with Serena Williams the moment she started warming up for her Wimbledon doubles match overnight.

She appeared to be disoriented, weakly pushing volleys into the net from a metre away, missing practise strokes and failing to pick up tennis balls that bounced her way.

When the warm-up ended, Williams was examined in her seat by medical staff, who checked her blood pressure. The delay was so long that one of her opponents, Kristina Barrois, asked the umpire whether she could warm up again.

Serena Williams slowly retrieves a tennis ball.Source: Getty Images

The match eventually started, but Williams was still struggling. In the third game, she was broken to love after serving four double-faults. One of the best servers in the history of women’s tennis hit balls that bounced before reaching the net.

With the score at 0-40 in that game, umpire Kader Nouni climbed down from his chair and asked Williams whether she would able to continue. One point later, she walked to the side of the court holding hands with her doubles partner (and sister) Venus, ready to end the match.

“Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, Miss Williams has to retire,” Nouni announced to the crowd. Williams wiped away tears as she trudged towards the exit.

According to the referee’s office, Williams’ withdrawal was due to a viral illness.

“I am heartbroken I’m not able to continue in the tournament,” she said in a statement afterwards. “I thought I could rally this morning because I really wanted to compete, but this bug just got the best of me.”

Venus Williams confirmed her sister was sick.

“Unfortunately, Serena has been feeling unwell for the past few days and she just couldn’t play to her potential today,” she said. “I’m really proud of her for trying because we just love playing doubles together.”

Serena and Venus Williams frequently play doubles together.Source: AP

Venus and Serena have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair, including five at Wimbledon. In singles, 32-year-old Serena is the world number one, and has claimed 17 major championships.

“We were all looking forward to a great match. From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of the fans for their cheers and understanding,” she said. “I look forward to returning to Wimbledon next year.”

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